


So Many Ways to Be

by Heart_Seoul_Soshi



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Evil!Evie, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-02-01 02:37:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12695412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heart_Seoul_Soshi/pseuds/Heart_Seoul_Soshi
Summary: Sixteen years ago, when the royal guard first swept through the Isle of the Lost to whisk the newborns off to live proper, nurturing lives in Auradon, one baby girl got away; Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen, who grew to be raised by her mother, Maleficent, Jafar, and Cruella De Vil.Sixteen years later, she's one wicked princess, on one wicked mission to bring Auradon to ruin.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> from an anonymous request on tumblr

They say she's trouble.

They say she's bad, they say she's evil, and that makes her glad.  A dirty no-good, down to the bone.  Your worst nightmare, can't take her home.  So she's got some mischief in her blood, can you blame her? She never got no love. They think she's callous, a low-life hood.  No, she's not useless— _misunderstood._

"Mirror mirror, on the wall, who's the baddest of them all?"

Evie dragged a perfectly painted fingertip along the splintered crack in her mirror, watching her reflection's smile through smokey, half-lidded eyes. Her daily affirmation. She didn't need a magic response from the reflection, she knew the answer all for herself.

Mirror mirror, on the wall,  _she's_ the baddest of them all.

Her strut parted the crowds, a flip of the hair cleared away the stragglers.  The street she now walked was all hers, as it rightfully should've been. This was  _her_ island, after all.

Her vain, appearance crazed mother had never placed much value in smarts, but she herself had put them to good use sixteen years ago when the kingdom's royal guard first came to the Isle of the Lost and—as a horned friend of the family always put it—"commandeered" the newly-born children of The Isle to take them away to Auradon where they could grow up living lives of goodness, talking to rodents, and avoiding sickly diseases when birds fluttered in to help them bake pies. Pathetic. When the smoke had cleared, The Isle was childless; save for one little baby girl, secretly hidden away by the Evil Queen. Jafar was down a future employee, Cruella was down a future assistant, and Maleficent was down a future mistress of evil.  Like the top tier villains they were, Evie's existence didn't stay a secret from them for long, and with the one little baby girl the only one left to help them see their plans become a reality, what else could they do but take her under their wings?

One step after the other, her gorgeous heels stomping the uneven pavement, accompanied by the shouts and bellows of surprise as the islanders saw her coming and scrambled to get out of the way in time. Music to her ears.  

The sign said "Closed Until Midnight" when she reached her intended destination, but to Evie, such a notice was merely...a suggestion.  She went right in without ever breaking her stride, coming to a stop only when she caught sight of the two older women in rags, attempting to sweep but still not quite accustomed to the untold feat of holding a broom.

"I hear there's a sorcerer's apprentice who can give you a hand with that," she giggled devilishly; a learned habit of Cruella's.

Anastasia and Drizella hadn't noticed her arrival until she spoke, and jumped back at the sound of her voice, clutching their brooms and mumbling various combinations of surprised, somewhat-words that Evie didn't care at all to listen to.

"What's the matter?" Evie's eyes flicked to the ridiculously oversized painting of the family pet, Lucifer, adjourning the wall. "Cat got your tongue?"

"You'll have to excuse their manners."

Three heads turned in the direction the cool voice had drifted in from, watching the matron of the household easily and somewhat regally descend the stairs.

"My lady," Evie teasingly said, giving a little bow.

Joking or not, Lady Tremaine knew better than to take Evie in stride, and nodded her head in return.

"You just can't seem to resist the Cinderella treatment, can you?" Evie looked over Lady Tremaine's daughters and laughed. "Only you would think the rags were  _really_ necessary."

Anastasia and Drizella had fallen into a look of fear, gripping their brooms in front of them like they would offer up some sort of protection.

"Leave us, girls," Lady Tremaine said with a wave of her hand.

The daughters obediently scampered away in clear relief, leaving their brooms against the wall and practically bolting up the staircase without a word.

"...I see what you mean about their manners," Evie dropped into the chair by the salon's cash register and propped her feet up on the desk.

"...Today is Wednesday, Evie," Lady Tremaine quietly told her.

"I know it.  You know it," Evie's eyes darted down as she examined her nails.

"...You collect the money on Friday."

"Again, tell me something I don't know.  Yes, this should be my day off, but lo and behold—Cruella needs  _another_  dye job. Dye jobs cost money and well, here I am."

"Why not just have her come here to the shop?" Lady Tremaine suggested, with a smile and pleasant tone that was once upon a time reserved only for a Duke. "We can take care of her, free of charge."

Evie slowly lowered her feet and leaned forward with a nasty glint in her eyes.

"The Queen of Hearts would have your head if she heard you were trying to weasel your way to her paying customers."

"I did no such thing. I was merely suggesting an alternative so you wouldn't have to be bothered on your...day off."

"Well I'm here now, so pay up," Evie ran a hand along the cash register.

Lady Tremaine hesitated for a second, keeping her almost-royal poise. Evie smiled, jerking her head in the direction of the register.

"Are you gonna hand over the money or do I have to chip a nail trying to break into this clunky thing?"

Lady Tremaine was caught up for a moment, caught up in memories of the sixth birthday party of a little girl whose tinkling laugh could bring a smile to even her cold and hardened face.

"...Of course, Evie.  I'll get the money at once."

She opened up the register, stacking its meager contents neatly and handing the bills over to Evie.

"Cruella and her hair appreciate your generous donation," Evie snatched the cash away with a nasty grin.  "A woman's got to look her best."

"I understand completely," Lady Tremaine said, keeping her composure out of fear of saying the wrong thing to Evie.

The girl strutted away, taking the cash with her to the front door, where she turned and gave a teasing little wave of her fingers.

"See you Friday."

Another chorus of shouts and screams accompanied her every move on the way back to the villains' hangout, and it brought a smile to her face, curving her lips all the way through the streets of The Isle.

"And where were  _you_?" Maleficent asked, sitting on her improvised throne and filing her nails when Evie returned to the villainess’ castle.

"Grabbing the cash for her non-royal highness' day trip," Evie tossed the money at Cruella, sitting at the table, who cackled giddily before pocketing the money and taking off.

"Thought it was your day off," Maleficent said, with a bit of a bored tone.

"I did too.  I spend my entire week running errands for you guys, Wednesday is Evie Day."

"Everyday is Evie Day, my darling," her mother, the Evil Queen, came up to her, putting a finger under her chin and turning her head to get a good look at her as if she'd never seen her before.

"Doesn't feel like it, shaking down the island for your pocket change or 'doing inventory' at Jafar's store."

"Inventory?" Maleficent snorted, laughing. "Is that what he calls it now?"

"...Perfect," the Evil Queen said on a completely different note, done looking over Evie and deciding she passed.

"Perfect," Evie repeated, stepping away from her mother.  "If anyone needs me, I'll be at home, salvaging my day off—and also, don't need me."

"You work too hard, dear," her mom idly noted.

Evie flashed a devilish albeit tired smile.

"It's not easy being this wicked, but someone has to do it," she said.

She left the room then, just as quickly as she arrived, on her way to traverse the streets again and head to her own castle.

Maleficent's eyes watched her leave, tracking her every movement out of the room before her ears took over and listened for the moment she was truly gone and out of hearing range.

"...I think she might be ready," she said, setting her nail file aside.

The Evil Queen narrowed her eyes at her fellow villain.

"I don't like this crazy scheme of yours.  What are we going to do without Evie?"

Maleficent practically jumped from her throne, passion flaring to life in her expression.

"You're not looking at the big picture here, queenie.  What are we going to do  _with_ Evie? The same old things we always do!  Cruella coloring her ridiculous hair, Jafar running that ridiculous shop, you staring into those ridiculous mirrors, and me sitting around here watching the rest of you be ridiculous!"

"How do you really feel?" the Evil Queen rolled her eyes.

Maleficent ignored her, maniacal tirade already in full swing.

"We are the Evil Four, the worst villains in this land and every land beyond. We've cursed the likes of babies, puppies, teenagers, and royals, and now you all putter around my castle like retirees! Evie is our ticket to the good old days, the reason you stashed her in a wardrobe sixteen years ago when the king's men came knocking, and kept her hidden all the years since when wave after wave of royal guards returned to snatch away all the other children who came to be born here. The reason the four of us have raised her to be evil, and vicious, and ruthless, and cruel!  She is our way off this wretched island, got it??"

"...She's our way off the island," the queen agreed.

Their way off the island breezed into her bedroom after the short walk up the road to her castle, dropping heavily onto her bed after snatching her sketchbook off the nightstand and flipping open to her latest design. She hadn't been exaggerating back at Maleficent's castle; everyday was the same, 'running errands' for the Evil Four. She didn't hate it—the gasps of a panicked populace whenever she showed her beautiful face around town, stammering sputters like those of Anastasia and Drizella, villains and minions who were once upon a time the worst of the worst where they came from now bending over backwards to satisfy her every whim. No, she didn't hate it, it was what she was made for. In the absence of a daughter of her own, it was Evie that Maleficent had groomed to be ruler of The Isle, and rule she did.

But there was only so much island to terrorize, and sixteen years was beginning to wear thin. Day in and day out of it, doing the dirty work, returning to Maleficent's castle to listen to the four villains bicker and badger, going home to endure her mother's beauty treatments and then curling up in bed to spend the few moments of the day she had to herself drawing up new fashion designs. Monotony. A terrible thing to beset such a pretty face. Evie sighed, reaching over for a pencil.

"That wouldn't happen to be a sigh I hear up there now, would it?"

Evie gasped, knowing that dulcet voice coming from below her window anywhere. She set her sketchbook aside just as quickly as she'd picked it up when she came in, crossing the bedroom to go to her open window and look down the length of the tower to where her frequent partner-in-crime sat, swishing his tail back and forth.

"You've forgotten my visit, haven't you? Careless, Evie," Scar chided with a "tsk". "A mind is a shameful thing to waste on a backward rock such as this one."

"I've had a long day, alright? I had to go running around The Isle for Cruella and her stupid hair."

"On your day off? Tragic."

"You're telling me."

Scar waited patiently as Evie ducked out of the window and began to expertly climb down the stony bricks of the tower the way Jafar had long ago taught her to—thievery was a breeze when you had escape routes that couldn't be followed. Scar was wickedly flexing his claws when Evie hopped down from the wall and joined him at the castle front.

"Should you ever decide that you're done taking orders from that witch..." he said with menacing malice.

"I  _don't_ take orders from the likes of Cruella. You're just still bitter over her joking about making you into a new coat...okay, so maybe she wasn't joking," Evie cackled.

They began to walk side by side, making their way to a destination only they knew.

"Hey Scar? Do you ever get bored here?" Evie asked.

"Bored of life on the backward rock? Perish the thought," the lion rolled his eyes. "My dear Evie, your beloved home is a prison, run by a king who could stand to be overthrown."

"King Beast."

"Surely the villains taught you about the grand tradition that is the coup d'état?"

Evie shrugged.

"Well yeah, but there's not much point when you're stuck under a magic barrier with no way out," she said.

"Keep it in mind anyway. You never know when it might come in handy."

"'Be prepared'," Evie teased. "Believe me, I know."

Evie would never let Scar find out, but she took great pride in the fact that when the people of The Isle saw a lion and a princess coming their way, they mainly scrambled aside out of fear of the princess. Scar may have been maniacal and murderous, but Evie was...well, Evie. She was a sleek, shining apple simply  _dripping_  with poison, a cursed spindle sharpened to a deadly point, a treacherous and tactical brain with sights set on power, and a keen eye for fashion with sheer ruthlessness in her heart. Her mother, Maleficent, Jafar, and Cruella had been her teachers, and Evie always was a good student.

She lurked in the shadows by the doorway as Scar pawed his way into Ursula's Fish & Chips for an afternoon snack, watching him saunter up to the front counter with a royal gait he never quite seemed to have lost.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Ursula chuckled darkly from behind the counter.

Scar daintily hopped up and perched on a stool, eye to eye with her.

"Is that any way to speak to a customer?" he scoffed.

"You're no customer. Customers pay," Ursula deadpanned. "You, kitty cat, are a freeloader. Now get out."

She whipped a tentacle in his direction, making him rear back with a snarl.

Evie's lips curled up in a savage smile to herself, and she slunk out from the shadows she hid within, strutting a path through the restaurant.

"You know, an octopus is supposed to have three hearts. I don't even think you have  _one_ , sea witch," she sneered.

Everyone inside gasped at the sudden sight of her. Oh, she would never get tired of that tune.

"Why... _Evie_ ," Ursula suddenly grinned brightly. "Welcome, my dear."

Evie looked around the room at the pirates, the only ones who ever seemed to frequent Ursula's.

"Business is hardly booming in this rat trap of yours. Surely you have a spare fish or two stashed in the back for my friend here?" Evie patted Scar on the head, a gesture that only she was allowed to do.

Ursula's suspicious smile faltered.

"Now Evie, I do still have a business to run. I can't just go around giving things out for free," Ursula timidly argued.

Timid. A strange color on her, but the right one in the presence of Evie.

"We're all villains here, Ursula, and villains have to stick together. We're all we've got, after all," Evie's voice went low and raspy.

Scar bared his fangs in a snooty grin as Evie worked her magic.

Ursula just had to relent. She snapped her fingers at the scraggly worker standing next to her, ushering him off to the back. He then returned with an equally scraggly fish, holding it by the tail and dropping it on the counter in front of the lion with a flat "plop". Evie's eyes hardened as she glanced from the meager offering to Ursula.

"...That's the best you can do for the former king of the Pridelands?" she demanded.

"Emphasis on former..." the scraggly worker muttered under his breath.

Evie turned her ice cold gaze on him, and without a single word or the approval of Ursula (really with just a fearful "eep!", to be honest) he again scampered away and came back with two more fish for Scar.

"...Evie, those fish are very hard to come by," Ursula fretted.

The girl's hardness shattered away with a short, jeering laugh.

"You literally talk to sea creatures. What, you can't trick a few fish into coming on up for a one-way visit? You're losing your touch, Ursula...tricking fish used to be your specialty."

The lion had already scarfed down two of his fish and clamped his teeth around the third to take on the go, nimbly leaping down from the stool. Evie gave a pompous flip of her hair, basking in her triumph.

"Should've saved yourself the trouble and just handed over the fish from the start," Evie said, turning around and glancing over her shoulder. "After all, you're a very busy woman and you haven't got all day."

She cackled to herself, always a manifestation of her inner Cruella, then sauntered off with Scar, raising a hand to wave behind her.

"Ta-ta, darling," she called out, another De Vil mannerism.

She and Scar wiled away the hour patrolling and terrorizing up and down the streets of The Isle, scattering crowds and wreaking general havoc. It was times like these (and times like these alone) that Evie wished there were still children on The Isle, just so she could delight in siccing Scar on them and watching a lion tear down the street in pursuit of a five year old. But alas, thanks to the king and queen of Auradon, Evie was and always had been the sole child of the Isle of the Lost. Hence her only acquaintances lying within the local wildlife, a move that was far more Snow White than she would ever admit.    

She bid Scar goodbye just up the road from her castle and made her way to the stony walls (it was much faster to just climb the turret instead of weaving the winding maze of halls to get to her room), just beginning the climb when Jafar suddenly rounded the corner and looked up at her.

"What are you doing up there?" he asked.

"What are  _you_ doing down  _there_?" she asked right back. "You realize this is my castle, right? If you want to wander, do it at Maleficent's place. Or better yet, your own."

Jafar jabbed a thumb in the direction of the castle’s front doors.

"Maleficent is inside. We all are. And your mother's looking for you."

Evie rolled her eyes, wondering why all this bother just  _had_  to fall on her day off. She let go of the wall and made the short drop to the ground, landing agilely on her feet and following Jafar inside. Through the same winding maze of halls she did indeed find the other villains; Maleficent and Cruella standing with her mother before the three of them were joined by Jafar.

"What's going on here?" Evie questioned, dropping heavily onto the once-elegant sofa and propping her feet up onto an ottoman that had seen better days.

No one even had to relinquish the floor to Maleficent, she charged right in and took it, brandishing her scepter as she spoke.

"Evie!!" she shouted excitedly, snapping everyone to attention. "Darling Evie, aren't you ever  _tired_ of your life here on The Isle?"

"Tired of hustling protection money, threatening Jafar's competition, and fluffing Cruella's furs? Why, how could I ever get tired of that??" Evie sarcastically said, crossing her arms.

Maleficent's little smile was downright nasty.

"Ever dream of a world with more...opportunity?" she wondered.

"Opportunity to what? Fluff someone else's furs?" Evie rolled her eyes. "I'm a princess, Maleficent, I'm meant for so much more than that."

"You're not just a princess, hot stuff, you're a _villain_ ," Maleficent looked borderline giddy, which, admittedly, weirded Evie out even more than the time she came to the realization that Gaston used mirrors more than she did.

"So I'm a villain. I'm also a misfit and a flirt. What's your point?"

It was her mother who answered.

"The point  _is_ , villains were meant to rule, my dear," she said.

Maleficent whirled over to the nearest window with a flourish, looking out into the distance.

"And there's an entire kingdom out there just waiting to be brought to its knees," she clenched her fingers into a fist.

Evie was nonplussed, deciding instead to admire her nails as Maleficent chattered on.

"Yeah, well, good luck toppling the monarchy from inside this hamster ball," she boredly said.

Maleficent's laughter as the other three looked on in silence was a bit chilling, and it drew Evie's narrowed eyes back up at her.

" _We_  aren't going to do anything, Evie.  _You_ are going to lead the way for our path to victory."

Evie's eyes went wide.

"Wha—? Me??" she blurted. "What do you expect me to do??"

"To win with your ruthlessness," Jafar's eyes shone wickedly.

"To scheme and plot without ever taking no for an answer," Cruella said.

"To get your way with your beauty and charm just enough hearts to take what you want," her mother told her.

And last but not least, Maleficent, with a tight hold on her scepter and flames of green dancing within her gaze.

"Pack a bag, princess. You're going to Auradon."


	2. Chapter 2

“Auradon, hm?” draped across Evie’s bed, Scar lazily swished his tail back and forth. “And how, pray tell, does her horned highness plan to get you there?”  
  
“When have you ever known Maleficent to overshare?” Evie rolled her eyes.  
  
She stuffed clothes into a torn duffel bag, not bothering to fold anything and uncharacteristically deciding she’d worry about wrinkles later. Scar lifted a paw, studying his claws as Evie packed.  
  
“It’s a land of royalty and class. How shall you ever fit in?” he said airily.  
  
“Excuse me?” Evie scowled, mid-pack.  
  
“Oh, please,” now it was Scar’s turn to roll his eyes. “You’re a villain, Evie.”  
  
“I am a pri—”  
  
“Princess or no princess, if you were meant to be in Auradon you’d  _be_  there already,” Scar growled.  
  
“Well I’m not asking questions,” Evie turned her head from him, busied her attention and her hands with packing once more. “I don’t get paid to ask questions.”  
  
“You don’t get paid at all,” the lion droned on.  
  
“Oh I don’t know, maybe I’ll get paid with a nice new fur coat!!”  
  
There was no joking in Evie’s tone, no playful banter between acquaintances. If Scar didn’t know any better, he’d swear a flash of green was alight in Evie’s eyes when she rounded on him, hair whirling with her like a striking blue whip. Scar didn’t let himself falter, he cooly met Evie’s burning gaze. Imaginary green flames subsided, and Evie looked away.  
  
“…I didn’t mean that,” she grumbled.  
  
There were no “I’m sorrys” on The Isle. Scar just let the whole matter drop.  
  
“Am I to take it Maleficent has a reason for shipping you off to Auradon? Or has she just finally gone mad as a hatter?”  
  
Evie moved to her nightstand, picking up her sketchbook and slowly running her fingers over its worn and torn cover.  
  
“I don’t know how she tipped off the do-gooders that I’m here, but they’re coming for me first thing tomorrow morning to take me to Auradon Prep. She says I’m to go after Fairy Godmother’s wand while I’m there learning to be sickeningly sweet and insufferably good.”  
  
She rolled her eyes in disgust while a spark of recognition was coming to life in Scar’s.  
  
“Ahh, the wand…”  
  
Evie added the sketchbook to her meager possessions in the duffel bag.  
  
“I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s not like a wand’s going to do Maleficent or my other overbearing parents any good here on The Isle.”  
  
Scar hopped down from Evie’s bed, nimbly and agilely, stretching out for a moment before padding over to her.  
  
“Evie, use those brains your mother abhors so much,” he said. “Fairy Godmother’s wand cast the barrier that keeps us in and keeps magic out. Fairy Godmother’s wand can take the barrier down. And if Maleficent has the wand…”  
  
“…Then the villains are free,” Evie realized.  
  
“To overthrow.”  
  
“To rule.”  
  
“Seems the Evil Four finally feel they’ve groomed you enough for a grand master scheme,” Scar mused. “You’ll be saying goodbye to this dreary old rock for a while.”  
  
“I guess I will.”  
  
Evie looked around. Her whole life seemed to be reflected in the walls of her bedroom. Designs she was exceptionally proud of taped high and low, a rotted wood dress rack almost buckling under the weight of dresses fashioned together out of curtains and safety pins. The hairdryer designated specifically for fluffing Cruella’s furs laying on top of a dresser with the cord haphazardly wadded up, glittering trinkets she swiped for Jafar’s store but decided to keep for herself instead.  
  
The Isle was nothing to admire, but it was still her home. Auradon was strange and foreign, dangerous territory even for a dangerous girl, and Evie was about to be left all alone in an unfamiliar land on the biggest snatch and grab of her life. Was she feeling lost, and sentimental?  
  
Not in the slightest.  
  
“Let’s go wreak a little havoc while the day’s still young,” she said around a sneer. “We’ll pay a visit to Hades’ shop. It’s been a hot minute since I gave Pain and Panic a reason to live up to their names.”  
  
She turned on her heels, leaving the packing for later as she strode across the room for the door. Scar was right behind her, a devilish chuckle dancing deep in his throat.  
  
“Darling Evie, Auradon is not going to know what hit it.”  
  
Evie nodded her agreement, flipping her hair back before her fingers curled around the handle of the door.  
  
“Long live evil.”

* * *

A limousine. Evie could get used to that.  
  
The commotion outside Maleficent’s castle the next morning was what drew the attention of five villains to one of the windows, where they spied the sleek black limo with doors bearing Auradon’s crest being crowded by curious street urchins.  
  
“Ride’s here,” Maleficent announced in a sing-song voice.  
  
Evie’s curious eyes narrowed with scorn as she gazed down at the street below.  
  
“Oh sure, I ruin manicures buffing and waxing Cruella’s broken-down rattletrap and the royals have limos to spare,” she muttered.  
  
She was taken by the arm just then, whirled away from the window and off to the side with a spin.   
  
“Now listen, this ain’t no sightseeing tour, kiddo. The headmistress of Auradon Prep is that  _Fairy Godmother,”_  Maleficent sneered around the words. “And we need that wand. So find it, take it, and bring it back here.”  
  
“What, do you expect me to swim?” Evie sneered too.  
  
The sorceress patted her shoulder condescendingly.  
  
“Figure something out. You’re supposed to be smart.”  
  
Now Evie’s mother breezed by, taking her by the arm too and tugging her away from Maleficent.  
  
“But not  _too_ smart, Evie dear,” the Evil Queen warned. “A prince won’t like smarts, he’ll like that pretty face of yours. There’s bound to be dozens of princes in Auradon, it’s up to you to charm the one with the biggest castle and the most riches.”  
  
“She can trophy hunt on her own time!” Maleficent called out, spurning the thought of Evie straying from the mission at hand.  
  
“And speaking of trophies,” in came Jafar to try his hand at Pass the Evie. “Just imagine the price a glittering crown or pretty jewel will fetch, imagine how much one will pay to get their treasures back from my—I mean,  _your_ —sticky little fingers.”  
  
“Auradon shopping spree. I get the drift, Jafar,” Evie sighed.  
  
“Imagine a house full of secondhand baubles? Ha! Imagine a closet full of royal furs!” Cruella cackled, one arm slithering around Evie’s shoulder. “Can’t you just see it, darling? A king’s prized purebred, a queen’s precious pedigree, draped over  _my_  arm!”  
  
“You’re sick, you know that?” Evie shrugged out from under Cruella’s hold. “And I got it, okay? I’m there on business. Steal the wand, steal a prince, steal the treasure, steal a dog.”  
  
“Oh don’t be ridiculous, Evie. It takes more than  _one_  dog for a fabulous coat,” Cruella chided.  
  
“Nevermind these idiots!” Maleficent gestured at the other villains with a sweeping flourish of her cape. “You just worry about the wand, missy. The people of Auradon are simple-minded imbeciles. To them, you’re a poor little lost girl, cruelly trapped on The Isle by fate and in desperate need of goodness.”  
  
“More like ‘rehabilitation’, I’m sure,” Evie grumbled, already certain of how Auradon would see her.  
  
“Point is, some might feel sorry for you. Point is, you can use that to your advantage. Twist those feeble little minds until they point you right in the direction of the wand.”  
  
Evie crossed her arms, almost seeming offended.  
  
“You act like I’ve never twisted minds before, Maleficent. I know what I’m doing.”  
  
“Ah, but to make  _doubly_  sure…”  
  
A snap of Maleficent’s fingers brought the Evil Queen over, slipping something small and shattered into Evie’s hands.  
  
“…Your magic mirror?” Evie guessed with a frown, having always imagined the relic a little bit differently in her head.  
  
“Travel sized,” her mother explained.  
  
“And this,” Maleficent procured a book, one which Evie recognized right away by its leather bindings, the golden dragon emblem emblazoned on its cover.  
  
“Your spellbook?” she gasped. “But that was always meant for—”  
  
“For my daughter Mal, yes. But seeing as sixteen years in Auradon has probably turned her into a rotten do-gooder like the rest of them, the book is yours now.”  
  
Evie put the magic mirror into her jacket pocket and took the spellbook from Maleficent, tracing the shape of the dragon with her finger.  
  
“Remember that there’s magic in Auradon. Remember that you’re the daughter of a witch and the apprentice of a sorceress. If all else fails…” Maleficent came close and gave the book a tap.  
  
The limousine beeped its horn once from outside. Everyone’s head swiveled reflexively in the direction of the sound for a moment, before the villains turned their attention back to the task at hand.  
  
“Pull this off, and it’s bye-bye Auradon,” Maleficent said with a vicious smile.  
  
“Wouldn’t that be something?” Evie smiled back.  
  
Another beep from the limo, and the room sprang into action. Evie retrieved her bag from where it sat slumped over in an armchair, sticking the spellbook inside before she slung the bag over her shoulder.  
  
There were no goodbyes as the Evil Four stood together in the doorway of the castle and Evie strutted out into the street, the path cutting itself for her as the crowd hastily parted to make way for her presence. The limo driver met her halfway, stepping out of the car to open the door for her. She really could get used to this.  
  
Evie didn’t look back, but she felt the eyes on her, burning into her; her mother’s, Maleficent’s, Cruella’s, Jafar’s.   
  
Sixteen years of monotony were coming to an end today. The petty crimes, the hustling, the putting on her scary face to strike fear into the hearts that needed it. It was all practice, all leading up to the grand finale of the villains’ freedom and the kingdom’s downfall. Evie was four of history’s worst villains all rolled into one, and Auradon had just invited her in with open arms and soft hearts. This was the biggest thing she’d ever do, the thing that would etch her name right up there next to the likes of Maleficent’s when future generations looked back on the rise and ruin of the United States of Auradon. Evie couldn’t fail in this, it just wasn’t an option.  
  
Not that she would in the first place, of course. Of all the things Evie was, a loser would never be one of them.  
  
The driver closed the door behind her as she settled into plush leather, and that was that. With a lurch of the limousine the Isle of the Lost began to roll away around her.

* * *

Evie’s eyes were touched with magic from the very moment The Isle was left behind. Her own gasp rang loudly in her ears as gold swirled and twirled in the air like what she imagined pixie dust must be like, the road to Auradon stretching across the sea just like that. Evie had never seen magic in all its glory before, only the watered down inklings in her head when the villains spoke of their “good old days” and past conquests. Dragons spewing flames of green, reddened cobra eyes bespelling those of a sultan, a curse dripping like venom from the skin of an apple. It all paled in comparison to the magic just outside the barrier’s walls.  
  
She always associated magic with light and color, from what her mother and the others would tell her. Auradon had light, and oh, how it had color. A soft blue above where Evie was used to slate gray, flowers outside the window bright and blooming instead of shriveled within shadows. The land was touched with a white-hot sun like a light switch had turned on, like Evie had been driven out of a dull and grayscale world.  
  
“Disgusting,” she muttered, yanking shut the elegant deep blue curtains that were drawn back and tucked along the edge of the window.  
  
She leaned her head back against the seat and kept her eyes closed for the remainder of the drive; thinking,  _scheming._ Would she play nice, every bit the poor, mistreated girl they thought she was? Twist their hearts and bend their sympathy so they’d hand her everything she wanted on a silver platter? Or would she play dirty, every bit the no-good princess of The Isle she  _really_ was? Wreaking havoc and mayhem again and again until she was finally dragged in front of the headmistress herself, left alone with the Fairy Godmother with nothing stopping her from seizing that wand in her clutches and escaping back to The Isle before anyone knew what had happened?  
  
She still hadn’t made a decision when the limousine began to slow, when the wheels rolled less and less over the crunch of gravel and came to a stop entirely. Silence when the engine cut, silence save for the opening and closing of the driver’s side door, then lighter crunching of gravel as no-doubt expensive shoes tromped over it. Evie’s door opened then, the driver graciously making an effort to carry Evie’s bag before she peeked her eye open just in time to catch him and snatched her bag away for herself.  
  
“Old habit,” she taunted with a nasty smile, only half kidding as a lifetime on The Isle taught her to keep her belongings close.  
  
The driver said nothing, merely moving out of the way so Evie could step out of the limo. Into all that abhorrent sunlight.  
  
Her mother would’ve had a thing or two to say about this, about the castle front looming before her. Auradon must have been littered with castles the way the streets of The Isle were littered with Auradon’s trash. It was nice and familiar, in a sense. Growing up in both her mother’s castle and Maleficent’s, Evie was at least glad to keep her standards. The sight was marred only by the hideous statue of the king towering over the neatly trimmed hedges, and by the four people lined up in front of it. She recognized the Fairy Godmother from the posters of her beaming, judgmental face slapped all over The Isle, encouraging goodness and change. Evie remembered her younger self liking to pretend they were Wanted posters. The other three standing among her, Evie had never seen before, but still she would recognize them anywhere. Even after being raised in Auradon from infancy, they still somehow carried the distinct auras of their parents.  
  
Jay, son of Jafar. Carlos, son of Cruella. And Mal, daughter of Maleficent.  
  
“Evie, hello. Welcome to Auradon Prep, where goodness doesn’t get any better,” Fairy Godmother came forward, the same beaming smile on her face, just lacking the judgement of her flat paper counterpart.  
  
“So I’ve heard,” Evie said.  
  
She tried to keep her eyes on the headmistress, but her attention was inadvertently drawn to the kids behind her. Fairy Godmother noticed her curiosity, turning and waving the other three near. Jay, Carlos, and Mal approached, looking just as warily at Evie as she was at them.   
  
“…It must be a little strange, meeting the children of the people who raised you,” Fairy Godmother said in kindly understanding.  
  
“I’ve known stranger,” Evie easily retorted.  
  
The headmistress provided introductions even though none were necessary.  
  
“Evie, this is Mal, Carlos, and Jay,” she pointed each of them out in turn. “They’ll show you around and help you get settled, and Mal here will be your roommate.”  
  
A flair for purple, and mystifying eyes. Goodness or no goodness, Mal was definitely her mother’s daughter.  
  
“Well, Evie dear, I have to get back to my office and finish planning out your class schedule for tomorrow, so I’ll leave you all to it. Please, make yourself at home here.”  
  
She nodded at the other three, handing it over to them, and then headed back towards the school and its front doors.  
  
Only on the grounds of Auradon Prep for five minutes and already someone was running off to make Evie’s decisions for her. Maybe Auradon and The Isle weren’t so different after all.  
  
“So, did they say anything about us?” Jay was the first one to break the tense silence, shoving his hands in his pockets with a little laugh.  
  
Evie noted his jersey, the Auradon blue and gold with the giant “8” plastered across the front.  
  
“No, they didn’t,” Evie didn’t mince words. “They don’t talk about any of you.”  
  
Three faces fell slightly. Three faces were apparently waiting to hear about their parents from someone and something other than a history book.  
  
“So was there an actual tour or were we just going to stand around admiring the scenery all day?” Evie demanded.  
  
Mal and the boys exchanged a dumbfounded glance at the girl’s brashness, before Mal made a sweeping gesture towards the school building and turned the others around with her.  
  
“Right this way,” she said.  
  
Past the statue of the king they walked, with Evie taking the time to glare up at the stony set of his face.  
  
“So how’d you do it?” Carlos asked, sticking close to Jay and staying away from Evie. “How’d you escape all the years of the royal guard coming to The Isle to take all the children away?”  
  
“My mom made sure I was hidden everytime they came by,” Evie shrugged. It really wasn’t that complicated. She didn’t see why it was a thing to be marveled over.  
  
“And the rest of our parents just…pitched in and helped raise you?” Jay wondered in turn.  
  
“Well with the three of you gone it’s not like they had much else to do, did they?” Evie said. “Look, it’s not like it was some disgusting 'big happy family’ thing. Maleficent needed an apprentice. Jafar needed someone to work in his store. Cruella needed a personal assistant. Without their own kids around, the jobs fell to me.”  
  
“…Personal assistant?” Carlos repeated quietly.  
  
He knew his mother was a villain, and that she was evil. But he never thought that “personal assistant” would take priority over “son”.  
  
“Hey, I don’t know what you guys thought about your parents, but—”  
  
“We don’t think about them, actually,” Mal interrupted, her tone and tongue a little sharp for an Auradon kid.  
  
She had pulled the doors open for them, and one by one they filed inside the building.  
  
“This is Auradon Prep’s main hall,” Carlos said, letting Evie have time to ogle. “Dorms upstairs to the right, dining hall downstairs to the left.”  
  
“The only two places that matter, hm?” Evie teased, chiding the brevity of Carlos’ tour.  
  
“I can show you around some more tomorrow after Fairy Godmother’s finished your schedule,” Mal offered. “Why don’t I take you to our dorm room for now?”  
  
“Please do.”  
  
They separated from the boys, starting up the staircase with Jay and Carlos calling out promises to see Mal later behind them (with no mention of Evie). Alone with Mal now, the gears in Evie’s head began to turn. Would she fall for the poor helpless Isle girl act? Or had she inherited her mother’s smarts?  
  
“So, you guys were raised in Auradon but you still know you’re the children of the worst villains in the land?” Evie bluntly asked as they started up the staircase.  
  
She saw Mal bristle from behind.  
  
“That’s the gist of it, yeah.”  
  
“Where I come from, people cower at the mention of my name,” Evie said haughtily.  
  
“…And you think that’s a good thing?” Mal asked over her shoulder.  
  
“Of course it’s not a 'good’ thing, it’s a wonderfully  _wicked_ thing.”  
  
“Fear, and terror?”  
  
“You wouldn’t get it, Auradon Girl.”  
  
“…No, I guess I wouldn’t.”  
  
They walked on in silence until they reached the dorm room. And oh, how there was a lot of pink. It hung from the curtains, the canopies of the beds, the pillows on the neatly made-up sheets. Evie could feel her expression curling into a grimace as she and Mal stood side by side in the doorway.  
  
“I know. I’m not a fan either,” Mal assured her, treading further into the room and standing by the bed that was to be Evie’s.  
  
“Oh, this is just… _cruel,”_ Evie sneered, moving beside Mal and tossing her bag onto the bed.  
  
“It’s Auradon,” Mal shrugged.  
  
When the villains invaded, Evie decided, the first thing she was doing was burning these drapes.  
  
“Alright, well, thanks for the warm welcome, but it’s time to leave me alone now.”  
  
Evie kicked back on the bed, leaning against the headboard and stretching out to dig around in her duffel bag.  
  
“That’s…it? You don’t have any questions about Auradon? You don’t want to take a look around?” Mal wondered.  
  
“I’m not in the mood to sightsee,” Evie felt out the shape of Maleficent’s spellbook among her clothes.  
  
 _Unless…_  
  
The tricky little gears whirred and churned again.  
  
“On second thought, the afternoon is young,” she mused. “And if Auradon Prep is going to be my bright, new, overly pink home, I suppose I might as well get to know it.”  
  
She kept her smile in check, hiding the conniving undertones.  
  
“Okay,” Mal nodded. “Just, fair warning, I’m not much of a tour guide.”  
  
Evie stood up, making sure to tuck her bag far under the bed before she joined Mal at the door and left the room with her. It was back down the corridor, back towards the staircase, and Evie noticed that she hadn’t yet seen another Auradon kid.  
  
“Auradon must really seem like a whole new world to you, huh?” Mal asked, trying to fill the awkward silence.  
  
“Please don’t start singing,” Evie cut her eyes sideways at her.  
  
“I don’t sing,” Mal sharply denied.  
  
“Oh really? Then how do you get all the woodland creatures to help you with your chores?”  
  
Mal simply ignored her, starting down the steps of the staircase.  
  
“School starts at 8:30. Fairy Godmother will have your schedule before tomorrow morning, so I’ll help you find your first period and show you the way to your other classes.”  
  
“A real Princess Charming. Speaking of, how did the queen of bibbidi bobbidis wind up babysitting?”  
  
Ever sharp was Evie’s mind, circling the conversation back to Fairy Godmother to inquire about the precious, precious wand.  
  
“I don’t know,” Mal shook her head. “I guess with peace in the kingdom and everyone getting their happily ever afters, the wish-granting business dropped.”  
  
“Then that famous wand of hers must be retired too, then.”  
  
“After it was used to cast the magic barrier over the Isle of the Lost, yeah. Now it just sits in the Museum of Cultural History.”  
  
Wand. Museum. Mal.  
  
The three words swirled around and around in her brain like the deadly ingredients in a cauldron of thick poison, stirred and stirred and stirred some more with her thoughts. Wand. Museum. Mal. Evie was hatching a plan, the most nasty and devilish and diabolical of plans. Maleficent wouldn’t take too kindly to the long-con, sitting impatiently in her crumbling castle, but this? This was just  _too_ delicious for Evie to pass up. Maleficent and the other villains were just going to have to wait. All her life Evie had done their bidding, served at their beck and call.   
  
Now it was her turn to have some fun.


End file.
